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Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Announce Total Destruction of Old Ad Campaign Relics: Watch "The Purge," Live on Twitch
[April 06, 2017]

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Announce Total Destruction of Old Ad Campaign Relics: Watch "The Purge," Live on Twitch


Today, CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE"), parent company of Carl's Jr.® and Hardee's® restaurant chains, announce a branded activation with social video platform, Twitch, so massively explosive that it couldn't be contained by a sound stage, taped-off city block, or, if we're being honest, any location inhabited by living creatures within a five-mile radius. Safety first, right?

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170406005156/en/

Now that "Carl Hardee Sr." is in, and his son "Jr." is out, it's time for "Carl Hardee Sr." to usher in a new day at his namesake brands by purging iconic relics of the recent past - which, in this case, means props from the company's former provocative ad campaigns. From a giant crate of bulk-bought bikinis, to 900 gallons of flammable tanning oil, to remnant cases of "Jr.'s" meat cologne, it all must be, well, destroyed - and they're calling on some loveable, yet diabolical, denizens of the internet for help.

Seem too good to be true? Take a look at this: Sneak peek teaser video

This fully interactive, literally explosive event, aptly titled, "The Purge," will stream LIVE on Twitch's homepage on Saturday, April 8 from 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. PDT.

After gaining mainstream notoriety for over a decade as the "bikinis and burgers" brands, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have completely revamped their advertising and marketing direction, shirking its image as provocateurs in favor of one as relentless pioneers - "Pioneers of the Great American Burger," to be exact.

"Carl's Jr. and Hardee's new advertising direction is all about our brands' pioneering spirits, and that has always extended beyond just the food we serve in our restaurants," said Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for CKE. "We pioneered the use of charbroilers, made drive-thru's a thing, and led the premium-quality charge with better-for-you options like all-natural, grass-fed beef burgers and all-natural, charbroiled chicken fillets with no antibiotics ever. Now, to help communicate our new advertising campaign direction, we've pioneered a new kind of partnership with our friends at Twitch, the industry leader in interactive, live video content."

To kick their new era of advertising off with a-literal-bang, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are bringing their two new commercial stars "Carl Hardee Sr." (Charles Esten) and "Carl Hardee Jr." (Drew Tarver) out to the California desert to physically demolish iconic remnants of the brand's advertising past. The best part? Viewers of the broadcast will be able to vote live on how they want those things to be demolished or "purged." Whether it's perhaps by a rocket launcher, Jr.'s estranged ex-girlfriend wielding a baseball bat or even a forklift truck mauling, they're giving viewers the keys to their armory and letting them go full on super-villain-rampage mode. No pressure, or anything.



As an added bonus, the event will be co-hosted by world-famous YouTube (News - Alert) stars, "The Slow Mo Guys," who will both perform their own demolitions, and capture instant replays (to be shown during the live broadcast) in super slow motion. Because, as everyone knows, the only thing more satisfying than watching things blow up, is watching things blow up slowly to a kick-ass soundtrack.

"With this brand transformation campaign, we're figuratively blowing up the past, so we thought it'd be fun to invite fans to help us literally blow it up too," said Jason Norcross, partner and executive creative Director at 72andSunny. "We're taking representations of the past out to a remote location, and ceremoniously blowing it all up for everyone to see. We've partnered with Twitch to give people the chance to play along and decide just how 'Carl Hardee Sr.' and 'Carl Hardee Jr.' destroy each relic. It's just another example of the brand having fun with its past in order to chart a new course that gets back to focusing on the food."


"The Purge" will serve as CKE's second partnership with Twitch in recent months, as the two brands previously joined forces to produce the gaming industry's first series of live ads, which were featured during a 72-hour livestream to epically launch Vice's gaming-focused website, Waypoint.

Follow Carl's Jr. and Hardee's on Facebook (News - Alert) (www.facebook.com/carlsjr and www.facebook.com/hardees), Twitter (News - Alert) (@CarlsJr and @Hardees) and Instagram (@CarlsJr and @Hardees) for the latest product news and promotional offers. Download the Super Star® Rewards app from the iTunes Store and Google Play and check in to redeem Carl's Jr. and Hardee's products on the spot, save points for a high-value reward, check out the full menu, and use the store locator to find any Carl's Jr. or Hardee's in the U.S.

About CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.

CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") is a privately held company headquartered in Franklin, TN. CKE is not a franchisor and conducts substantially all of its restaurant activities and operations through its subsidiaries. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee's Restaurants LLC own, operate and franchise the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito® and Red Burrito® concepts. Carl's Jr. and Hardee's operate as one brand under two names, acknowledging the rich regional heritage of both banners. After opening their first New York and New Jersey restaurants in 2015 and recent international openings in Chile, Cambodia and Kenya, Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee's Restaurants LLC now have over 3,800 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 41 foreign countries and U.S. territories. Known for its one-of-a-kind premium menu items such as 100 percent Black Angus Thickburgers®, Made from Scratch™ Biscuits and Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders™, as well as an award-winning marketing approach, the Carl's Jr./Hardee's brand continues to deliver substantial and consistent growth in the U.S. and overseas. The Carl's Jr./Hardee's system is now 94 percent franchised, with international restaurants representing 21 percent of the system. For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com or its brand sites at www.carlsjr.com and www.hardees.com.

About Twitch

Twitch is the world's leading social video platform and community for gamers. Each day, millions of community members gather to watch, talk, and chat about shared interests. Twitch's video platform is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for all types of content, including the entire video game ecosystem, the creative arts, vlogging (IRL), and more. Twitch also runs TwitchCon, the annual convention for celebrating the Twitch community. For more information about Twitch, visit our Press CenterTwitter feed (#Twitch), and Blog.


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